Choosing the Style of Your Wedding Bouquet

1. Choosing the Style of Your Wedding Bouquet

2. When I first speak to inquiring brides, I like to get an understanding of what style they envision for their wedding. Will it be chic and trendy? Classic and elegant? Or maybe rustic and free flowing is more their style. It’s important to have an idea of what look you hope to achieve when meeting with your florist and event décor team. I often suggest to brides that they should collect pictures of flower arrangements and other décor elements such as linens, charger plates, vases or candelabras, drapery, chairs and other favourite details, and bring them in to show me. I also like to see pictures of any other wedding elements that have already been decided on, such as the wedding dress, bridesmaid dress(es) and even the cake. I find that these details are often telling of style and personality and they help me get to know the bride better. As with all wedding details, there are many options when it comes to selecting your flowers and décor, and this applies to your wedding bouquet as well. Believe it or not, there are various styles to choose from, which is why I wanted to share this post with you. Below is a guide to selecting your bouquet style – an important detail of your big day. Your wedding bouquet will spend the entire day with you. It accompanies you from the moment you step into your wedding gown all the way through to your reception. It is a major detail that will show up in all your pictures and should complement your personality, the style of your dress and your overall wedding. If you’re looking for ideas or are struggling to decide what style you want your wedding to reflect, take a look at the guide below. It may help ease the process and get you excited about decorating your big day!

3. The Round One of the most popular bouquets today, the round bouquet is classic, elegant and timeless. It is usually a large bouquet and consists of one or two colours and types of flowers, although it is possible to create a round bouquet using different flowers and more than two colours. It is shaped into a perfect half-sphere-type design and often has little to no greenery visible. This bouquet works well for brides who want the focus of their bouquet to be one or two bold, beautiful flowers. The most popular choices for round bouquets are roses, peonies and gardenias, although many other flowers can work as well. The Nosegay Also popular with today’s brides, the nosegay is a beautiful choice for the bride looking for a smaller and lighter but still stunning bouquet. Any type of flower can be used for the nosegay. Popular choices include calla lilies, peonies, roses or a combination of a few types of flowers. More greenery is often seen in nosegay bouquets and because of their smaller size, they are often ideal for bridesmaids or other females in the wedding party.

4. The Hand-Tied This bouquet is a popular choice for outdoor, bohemian or rustic style weddings. Using a variety of flowers and greenery, this bouquet often has a wild “just picked from the garden” feel, and the stems are often visible and of varying lengths. Although you can use really any combination of flowers to get this look, some great choices are ranunculuses, carnations, stocks, garden roses, peonies, dahlias, daisies, lavender, lilac and a nice assortment of greenery and foliage. Combining many different types of flowers really gives this bouquet a fresh and natural look. The Composite/Glamelia An incredibly unique and beautiful choice, the composite/glamelia bouquet is perfect for the bride looking to really make a statement. Due to its grandeur, this bouquet works well for a bride whose dress has a clean, more simplistic design as it really adds some flair, style and elegance to a look. This bouquet is composed of flower petals (most often roses) that form what appears to be one giant flower. Other choices can include cymbidium orchids, calla or regular lilies, and even gerbera daisies. Because this bouquet is more labour intensive and requires more time to create, the cost can be significantly higher than other bouquet choices.

5. The Posy This bouquet has all the beautiful elements of other bouquets without being too large or heavy to handle. It is a popular choice among today’s brides and features mostly flowers, composed in a round shape. Popular flower choices include different types of roses combined, freesias, dahlias, peonies, ranunculuses and many others. The Pageant This bouquet is a less popular choice among today’s brides, but still a beautiful one. It closely resembles a flower bouquet that you would purchase from a flower shop, without all of the wrapping. It is often carried over one arm and consists of long, tightly wrapped stems. Great flowers for this bouquet include calla lilies (the most popular choice), long stemmed roses, orchids and tulips. For outdoor or rustic style weddings, a variety of wild long stems can be used to create this look. This bouquet will definitely make a statement and can be a nice differentiating factor between a bride carrying a more traditional bouquet, and her bridesmaids carrying pageant bouquets (or vice versa). It can also be used for mothers and grandmothers who are walking down the aisle.

6. The Cascade Beautiful, timeless and guaranteed to make a statement, the cascading bouquet is becoming popular once again with today’s modern brides. Also known as the “waterfall” bouquet, this design can be used for all types of weddings. For more classic styles, this bouquet usually focuses on one or two flowers with greenery intertwined, and for more boho or rustic styles, a variety of wild flowers often come together with lots of greenery and vines. This bouquet is round in shape at the top and cascades over a brides hands, falling into a downward shaping “V”. Because of its size and the statement that it makes, it is a great choice for brides whose dresses are more simplistic or who want to make a big impact with their bouquet. Popular flower choices include orchids, roses, lilies and tulips, although any flower can be used.

7. The Pomander Easy to carry and unique, this bouquet is perfectly round and is suspended by a loop handle. It is a popular choice for flowers girls due to its carrying ease and is sometimes even used as a décor piece that can be suspended in the air from a ceiling or wedding arch. It is often created using one colour and/or flower type, although this is not a hard or fast rule. Another great use for the pomander bouquet is as a decorative chair accessory, either on chairs that line the aisle of a ceremony, or from those that are set up for a reception. Popular choices include roses or carnations, although any flower or combination can be used to create this charming bouquet. As you can see, there are many different bouquet styles to choose from. If you’re not sure what will work best for your wedding style or budget, speak to your florist as they will be able to guide you. My suggestion is to spend some time looking through bridal magazines, online blogs and social sites like Pinterest and Instagram to learn what styles you like most. Ultimately, the style of your dress and wedding, as well as your budget will help you determine what’s best for your big day. I hope the bouquet selection process is an enjoyable one for you!